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Algiers — Algeria is building one of the world’s largest mosques which officials say will serve as a buffer against radical Islam and crown the legacy of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The Djamaa El Djazair mosque is being built facing the picturesque bay of Algiers as part of a complex that will include a one-million book library, a Koranic school and a museum of Islamic art and history.

It will also have a 265m high minaret – the world’s tallest — as well as a 20,000 square metres prayer hall capable of accommodating up to 120,000 worshippers.

The complex will be located between a future tourist hotspot and working class districts that were once a bastion for Islamist extremists.

The North African country was battered by a civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamists that killed some 200,000 people.

More than two decades later, armed groups remain active in parts of Algeria and the country has been hit by several devastating attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda in recent years.

“Some have accused us of building a temple for the extremists,” said Ahmed Madani, an advisor to the minister of housing responsible for the construction, which is being carried out by a Chinese firm.

“On the contrary, it will be a heavy blow for the extremists. They are the ones hostile to this project,” said Madani.

The new mosque — due to be completed in 2017 —will be “an emblem of moderate Islam in Algeria and a shield against all forms of extremism,” said Madani, who hopes it will draw Muslims away from Islamist-run houses of worship.

According to Madani, Algerian officials have been mulling the idea of building a mega-mosque since 1962, the year Algeria gained its independence from France. “The dream started becoming a reality” after the election of Bouteflika, a man known for his piety and devotion to Muslim art and culture, Madani said. — AP